火爆社区

Located in the village of Kingston in the southern part of the state, The University of Rhode Island is a public research institution known for having 鈥渆xcellent science programs,鈥� including a 鈥渕arine biology program [that] is one of the best in the Northeast.鈥� URI is a school that challenges me to think big and outside the box,鈥� says one student. Other stand-out majors include 鈥渘ursing, pharmacy,鈥� which students feel is 鈥渆xcellent鈥� one of the top in the country,鈥� and engineering.鈥� Students feel that 鈥渁ll professors have a unique style of teaching. Most are very willing to adapt their style to fit students鈥� needs though鈥� and many 鈥渁re able to share stories from their experiences that make the material more accessible and interesting.鈥� Another student observes that the staff is also 鈥済reat at helping freshmen transferring from home to college, and there are lots of different programs offered to help students excel academically.鈥� Overall, URI is known to have a solid liberal ideology with 鈥渙penness to creative and critical exploration.鈥� This engineering major finds the environment to be rather 鈥渇orward-thinking [with an] emphasis on today鈥檚 global workforce.鈥�

URI, as an affordable state school, naturally attracts a large percentage of Rhode Islanders. Rumor has it that this group 鈥渟ticks to their friends from high school,鈥� yet one undergrad observes, 鈥淩hody-borns are so afraid of college turning into another four years of high school that we go searching for new people to meet.鈥� The typical URI student 鈥渋s involved in at least one student organization, but many are involved in more than one. They usually go out about once a week on average and study about an hour a day.鈥� There are 鈥渕any students...involved in at least one type of extracurricular activity,鈥� 鈥渢hen there are students who are not involved at all.鈥� Campus diversity is strong, and most groups intermingle without issue.

The school鈥檚 proximity to the beach and to other major cities like Providence and Boston make it appealing to students from all over the Northeast. One student reports that 鈥渄riving to one of the nearby beaches to just clear your mind and relax is one of the many benefits of URI鈥檚 location.鈥� Students are said to have a 鈥渢wo brain track鈥� in terms of serious attention to study followed by equal attention to 鈥渞elaxing and having a good time.鈥� If fine dining is meaningful to your quality of life, it鈥檚 worth noting that URI鈥檚 dining hall has 鈥渨on a national award the past two years in a row.鈥� And, while there are complaints about the dry campus, one senior notes that this is a surmountable obstacle, in that 鈥減eople usually live in the surrounding neighborhoods, so you can travel to your friends鈥� houses and party.鈥� Others say that students who live nearby still choose to stay on campus during weekends, since this is where their social life is centered. Life isn鈥檛 all about 鈥済etting wasted,鈥� chides one sophomore. 鈥淪ometimes we get together [to] make dinner and just have a movie night inside our apartment.鈥�